Delhi faces water crisis, two treatment plants shut down

New Delhi: Parts of Delhi woke up to a water crisis Wednesday as two of the main water treatment plants in the city were shut down by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) because of high levels of ammonia in the water.

"High levels of ammonia and chromium were traced in the water Tuesday and we had to shut down the plants immediately. A monitoring committee has been set up and the supply will be restored by today (Wednesday) evening," DJB spokesperson Sanjam Chima told reporters.

The ammonia level had risen to 1.3 ppm Tuesday evening, a 1.28 ppm rise from the normal 0.02 ppm. The source of ammonia has been routed to be coming from Haryana, according to the DJB.

A large swathe of city areas running through Karol Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shalimar Bagh, the Cantonment and many other areas has been affected, officials said.

"We are not sure about the specific cause, but reasons could include industrial and domestic waste into the Panipat drain that is one of the prime sources of water for this plant," Chima said.
The two plants supply 210 million gallons of water per day on an average, making up for one-third of Delhi`s demand for water.

While the supply crunch is expected to trouble Delhiites till Wednesday evening, many Delhiites voiced their anger at the DJB for its lack of preparedness to meet a crisis.
"In case chemicals were traced, the DJB should have informed the people before. At least we could have stored water for the morning," said Ashok Agrawal, a resident of Shalimar Bagh in north Delhi.